BANCROFT    LIBRARY 


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TWENTIETH  ANNIVERSARY 


CORPORATE   SOCIETY 


California   Pioneers. 


ORATION: 

BY     HON.     LANSING    B.     MIZNER, 


POEM  : 

BY    THOS.     G.     SPEAR,    ESQ. 

Members  of  the  Society. 


SAN     FRANCISCO: 

PUBLISHED     BY     ORDER     OF    THE    SOCIETY 
1870. 


-  y>/// r //'  /        // //  / / 


TWENTIETH   ANNIVERSARY 


CORPORATE   SOCIETY 


California   Pioneers. 


ORATION: 
BY     HON.     LANSING    B.    MIZNER, 


POEM  : 
BY    THOS.    G.     SPEAR,    ESQ. 

Members  of  the  Society. 


SAN     FRANCISCO: 

PUBLISHED     BY     ORDER     OF    THE     SOCIETY. 
1870. 


TWENTIETH   ANNIVERSARY 


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SEPTEMBER   9th,    1870. 


In  pursuance  of  the  provisions  of  its  Constitution,  the  Society 
of  California  Pioneers,  on  the  9th  of  September,  celebrated  the 
Twentieth  Anniversary  of  its  organization,  and  of  the  admission  of 
California  into  the  Union,  in  the  following  manner : 

At  9  o'clock,  A.  M.,  the  members,  with  their  families,  friends  and 
invited  guests,  numbering  in  all  about  fifteen  hundred,  embarked  on 
board  the  Steamer  Capital,  E.  A.  Poole,  Captain,  to  make  an  excur 
sion  to  Mare  Island.  Among  the  guests  were  Gen.  Wm.  T.  Sher 
man,  Maj.  Gen.  Schofield,  Admiral  Farquhar,  of  the  English 
squadron,  and  their  several  staffs,  other  officers  of  the  United  States 
Army  and  Navy,  Federal  officers,  State  officers,  Military  and  Civil, 
Foreign  Consuls,  etc.  Passing  Alcatraz,  a  general  salute  was  fired. 
Arrived  at  Vallejo,  delegations  from  that  place,  from  Sacramento, 
Napa  and  Sonoma,  to  the  number  of  several  hundred,  joined  the 
party.  At  the  Island,  the  excursionists  were  received  by  Commo 
dore  Goldsborough  and  other  officers  of  the  Navy,  there  stationed. 
Having  formed  in  line,  they  proceeded  to  the  Hall  prepared  for  the 


(  4   ) 

occasion,  where,  having  been  called  to  order  by  President  Carter, 
the  following  exercises  were  held  : 

Prayer  by  Rev.  J.  A.  BENTON,  Chaplain  of  the  Society. 
Oration  by  Hon.  L.  B.  MIZNER. 
Poem  by  THOS.  G.  SPEAR,  Esq. 
Benediction  by  Rev.  A.  WILLIAMS. 

After  this,  Hon.  J.  B.  FRISBIE,  in  appropriate  terms,  presented 
to  Gen.  SHERMAN  the  Badge  of  the  Society,  and  the  General  re 
sponded  in  a  felicitous  manner.  During  the  literary  exercises,  a 
delegation  of  three  hundred  Stockton  Pioneers  arrived.  The  exer 
cises  being  concluded,  those  who  pleased  engaged  in  the  dance 
until  4i  o'clock,  P.  M.,  when  the  signal  for  departure  was  sounded, 
salutes  were  fired  from  the  batteries,  the  country  delegations  were 
landed  at  Vallejo,  and  at  7£  o'clock,  P.  M.,  the  excursionists 
reached  the  city  without  aught  having  occurred  to  mar  the  fes 
tivities  of  the  day. 


ORATION. 


MR.  PRESIDENT,  FELLOW  PIONEERS,  LADIES  AND  GENTLEMEN  : 

Reticent  indeed  would  be  the  individual  who  could  not,  under 
the  circumstances  that  now  surround  us,  utter  some  word  of  con 
gratulation  to  the  "  California  Pioneers,"  and  to  assure  them  that 
the  results  of  their  early  trials  and  privations — their  wanderings 
far  from  home,  wives,  children  and  friends — are  appreciated  by  all 
who  now  enjoy  the  blessings  of  this  great  commonwealth  on  the 
Pacific. 

Again  have  we  assembled,  as  is  our  annual  custom,  to  com 
memorate  the  origin  of  our  Society,  and  to  celebrate  the  advent 
of  our  State  into  the  National  Union.  A  century  has  not  yet  passed 
since  our  forefathers  pledged  their  lives,  their  fortunes  and  their 
sacred  honor,  to  the  defence  and  maintenance  of  that  liberty  and 
independence  which  we,  as  their  descendants,  and  citizens  of  that 
Union,  now  enjoy.  But  twenty  years — two  decades — a  simple 
score  of  years,  have  passed  away,  since  you,  and  I,  and  all  of  us, 
fellow  Pioneers,  welcomed  the  news  that  California — the  Golden 
State — she  who  dallied  and  lingered  last  with  the  setting  sun,  had 
become  a  member  of  our  glorious  Union,  thereby  adding  another 
star  to  that  banner  which  is  the  emblem  of  free  government  and 
individual  liberty  throughout  the  world.  It  seems  but  yesterday 
to  many  of  us,  of  this  vicinity,  that  the  steamer  bearing  the  news 
of  our  admission  into  the  family  circle  of  States  passed  through 
our  Carquinez  Straits,  and  by  her  booming  cannon,  which  echoed 


(  6  ) 

along  our  valleys,  conveyed  the    intelligence  to  the  people,  and 
made  it  inappropriate   to  speak   of  the  balance   of    our   common 
country  as  "  The  States"  for  we  were  then  one  of  them.     What 
memories  of  the  past  crowd  upon  us,  as  from  this  gay  and  brilliant 
assemblage — from  this  brink  and  *shore  of  time — we  look  back  to 
the  day  of  our  arrival  upon  the  Pacific  ;  with  what  hopes,  what  am 
bitions,  what  aspirations  came  we  ladened  ?     One  perchance  em 
bodied  the  last  lingering  hope  of  a  dear,  sainted,  widowed  mother, 
upon  whom  the  hand  of  adversity  had  laid  too  heavily  ;  whose  little 
all,  even  her  health,  had  been  spent  in  toil  and  care  for  her  darling 
boy,  pressing  him  to  her  heart,  and  pointing  Westward,  bid   him 
hie  to  California,  where  he  might  carve  out  for  him  and  her,  if  not 
a  fortune,  at  least  a  competency.     None  but  a  parent  can  know 
with  what  feelings  of  anguish  that  mother  saw  the  form  of  her  only 
born  fade  from  her  sight ;  how  in  her  new  desolation  she  poured 
upon  his  wandering  way  her  earnest  prayer ;  how  for  long  weary 
days,  weeks,  months  and  even  years,  she  waited  for  tidings  of  the  ab 
sent  one,  scanned  the  newspapers  for  some  clew  of  his  whereabouts, 
shuddered  at  the  recital  of  accidents  by  land  and  sea ;  how  in  her 
nightly  dreams,  the  horrors  of  Indian  massacres  and  terrible  ship 
wrecks  oppressed  her  brain,  until  suspense  ten-fold  worse  than  re 
ality  was  fast  driving  her  to  despair ;    when  some  friend  or  ac 
quaintance  writes  her  from  the  land  of  gold,  that  on  a  certain  day, 
in  a  certain  gulch  or  mining  camp,  her  son  had  sickened  and  died. 
Oh!  could  all  the  aggregated  wealth  of  Christendom  console  that 
poor  woman — crushed,  broken-hearted,  weighed  down  to  earth  : — 
but  that  small  still  voice  which  ever  attends  the  good,  whispers  to 
her,  there  is   a  brighter   land  hereafter ;   thus  consoled  and  sus 
tained,  she  stands  erect  and  lives  in  the  faith  that  earthly  partings 
are  but  temporary.     Another  in  the  fullness  of   early  manhood, 
leaves  wife  and  children  behind,  comes  determined  to  succeed  and 
return  to  the  loved  ones  at  home,  with  means  sufficient  to  secure 
for  them  that  position  in  society  which  family  associations  or  laudable 


(  7  ) 

ambition  might  seem  to  demand ;  earnest,  bold,  honest,  he  em 
barked  in  whatever  appeared  to  offer  the  realization  of  his  hopes ; 
it  made  but  little  difference  what — mining,  or  mule  driving,  banking 
or  lawing,  running  a  steam  engine  or  a  restaurant — it  was  all  the 
same  to  him,  so  success  wa?  reasonably  certain.  It  is  scarcely 
necessary  to  say  that  a  large  majority  of  such,  after  the  ups  and 
downs  usually  incident  to  a  new  country,  were  crowned  with  the 
reward  their  patience  and  industry  deserved,  and  either  returned 
to  their  Eastern  homes,  after  a  few  years,  where  they  found  the 
children  a  little  older,  the  girls  thinking  of  the  new  fashions,  the 
boys  bargaining  for  razors,  and  the  wife  (dear  soul)  who  had  for 
years  been  the  head  of  the  family,  looking  a  shade  less  youthful, 
but  more  lovely  in  her  womanly  prime  ;  or  as  was  more  frequently 
the  case,  feeling  averse  to  losing  any  precious  time  in  the  great 
race  for  fortune,  would  send  for  their  families,  who  in  due  course  of 
time  would,  via  New  York,  Orleans,  Panama  or  Cape  Horn,  arrive 
in  the  harbor  of  San  Francisco,  there  to  be  re-united,  the  family 
once  more  itself  again.  Debtors  came,  impressing  their  home  cred 
itors  with  hopes  of  future  collections ;  it  is  a  fact,  however,  praise 
worthy  or  otherwise,  that  it  was  sometimes  thought  more  conducive 
to  the  general  prosperity  of  a  new  State  to  keep  all  our  resources 
on  this  side,  and  crossing  the  bar  outside  the  Golden  Gate  was 
often  considered  as  barring  the  collection  of  old  debts — a  kind  of 
"  Statute  of  Limitations."  No  fault  was  ever  found  on  this  score 
however,  for  the  reason  that  the  great  prosperity  which  followed 
the  efforts  of  Californians  amply  repaid  all  demands.  The  sons  of 
the  wealthy  and  influential  came,  consoling  themselves  with  the 
idea  that  whatever  freaks  the  fickle  Goddess  Fortune  might  take, 
they  would  be  safe  ;  that  remittances  from  "  the  old  folks  at  home" 
would  be  sufficient  for  all  their  wants,  thus  failing  to  rely  on  their 
own  individual  exertions.  The  home  supply  after  a  brief  time 
ceased ;  and  these  young  men,  too  proud  or  too  indolent  to  work,  eked 
out  a  rather  precarious  existence  for  a  few  years,  and  finally  in  nine 


(  8) 

cases  out  often,  abandoned  the  race  to  those  who  had  no  other  backing 
than  their  own  strong  arms  and  wills,  thus  teaching  that  it  is  far  bet 
ter  to  give  our  young  men  correct  early  training,  inculcating  habits  of 
industry  and  economy,  than  to  leave  them  untold  wealth.  The 
sharp-witted  speculator  came,  he  of  Wall  street,  the  land  districts, 
the  Exchange  and  the  Bourse,  who  having  had  many  a  contest 
with  the  figurative  Bulls  and  Bears  of  the  stock  market,  desired  to 
see  these  animals  in  their  wild  and  pristine  condition — they  laid  out 
embryo  cities,  frequently  on  other  people's  land ;  they  embellished 
them  on  maps,  with  plazas,  towers,  domes  and  minarets  ;  sold  corner 
lots  for  fabulous  prices,  if  the  amounts  indicated  in  the  deeds  were 
correct ;  grand  schemes  on  paper  were  inaugurated,  the  funds  to 
maintain  which  were  to  be  forthcoming  when  they  should  "  strike 
it  rich  in  the  lower  tunnel,"  and  actual  bills  for  expenses  were  not 
paid  for  the  reason  that  the  "  coin  was  not  in  the  country." 
Mathematical  instruments  sufficiently  minute  have  not  yet  been  in 
vented  to  measure  the  exact  benefit  this  class  ever  was  to  the 
State  ;  but  as  the  Almighty  never  made  or  did  anything  in  vain,  it 
is  but  charitable  to  concede  that  they  were  also  necessary  to  the 
grand  aggregate  of  the  most  cosmopolitan  -country  the  world  ever 
saw,  the  uttermost  ends  of  the  earth  being  represented  among  us. 
But  by  far  the  most  important  class  which  came  by  land  and  by  sea, 
o'er  mountain  and  plain,  from  the  East  and  South,  from  the  vine- 
lands  of  Germany  and  France,  sunny  Spain  and  Italy,  from 
England  and  gallant  old  Ireland,  from  North  and  South  America, 
was  the  young  and  hardy  sons  of  toil — they  who  from  their  youth 
had  been  trained  to  occupation  and  labor,  and  taught  to  scorn  the 
indolent  and  aimless  life  of  him  who  expects  to  inherit  a  fortune  ;  but 
thirsting  for  adventure  and  a  fair  opportunity  to  build  up  for  them 
selves  homes,  names,  reputations,  they  came  in  the  year  1849  by 
tens  of  thousands,  having  been  preceded  by  only  a  few  hundreds. 
How  well  they  have  succeeded — what  they  and  those  who  have  fol 
lowed  them  have  accomplished — let  one  hundred  thousand  happy 


(9  ) 

homes,  five  hundred  villages,  several  large  cities  and  one  great  Me 
tropolis  answer ;  let  our  splendid  steamers,  our  work-shops,  manufac 
tories,  grain-fields,  vineyards,  nut,  olive  and  orange  groves,  bear  tes 
timony,  and  let  a  healthy  gold  basis  for  money  values  throughout 
the  world  concur. 

But  above  all,  higher  and  greater  than  these  physical  achieve 
ments,  can  we  point  with  just  pride  and  exultation  to  our  advance 
ment  in  the  scale  of  moral,  intellectual  and  scientific  prosperity. 
In  support  of  these  we  might  summon  the  allied  world,  and  the 
procession  of  our  witnesses  stretch  out  to  the  crack  of  doom. 
There  is  no  field  of  moral  or  Christian  culture,  no  avenue  to  mate 
rial,  commercial  or  scientific  greatness  in  which  we  as  citizens  or 
as  a  State,  have  not  been  conspicuous.  The  church  beckons  the 
erring  and  the  faithful  from  every  valley  and  hill-side  in  the  land, 
and  our  missionaries  bear  the  banner  of  the  Cross  to  millions  of 
of  the  heathen  in  India  and  the  Isles  of  the  sea  ;  our  free  schools 
offer  knowledge  to  all.  Our  products  and  manufactures  have  be 
come  the  wonder  of  the  world  ;  our  voice  has  been  heard  with  ad 
miration  amid  the  Federal  Judiciary,  and  in  the  National  Capitol. 
Members  of  our  Society  have  commanded  with  honor  the  Nation's 
ships  and  fleets  in  time  of  war,  and  led  our  conquering  armies 
with  the  sword  in  one  hand,  and  the  olive  branch  in  the  other, 
"  from  Atlanta  to  the  Sea." 

It  would  be  well  for  the  lawgiver,  in  view  of  the  rapid  advance 
ment  of  the  Laboring  Classes  in  all  that  tends  to  true  honor  and 

stability,  to  realize  the  fact  that  henceforth  this,  the  greatest  of  Na- 

* 
tions,  is  to  be  governed  by  the  toiling  millions,  the  hardy  sons  of  the 

plough,  the  hammer  and  the  pick.  The  laws  of  nature,  the  ex 
perience  of  buried  centuries,  all  prove  that  the  prosperity  of  Em 
pires  depends  upon  the  frugal  industry,  honest  labor  and  equal 
rights  of  the  citizen,  and  he  is  a  poor  statesman  who  attempts  to  re 
sist  these  immutable  rules.  Of  such  were  the  "  California  Pio 
neers."  Composed  of  all  classes  and  conditions  of  men,  who  were 


willing  and  anxious  to  gain  a  livelihood  by  the  sweat  of  their  brow, 
three  thousand  miles  of  toil  and  weary  travel,  o'er  sandy  plain  and 
desert,  and  snowy  mountain  tops,  amid  the  dangers  of  famine  and 
hostile  savages,  had  no  terrors  for  them — no  power  to  stay  their 
onward  march.  Eighteen  thousand  miles  of  ocean  around  Cape 
Horn,  between  decks,  twice  through  the  tropics,  with  unwholesome 
food,  subject  to  disease  and  death,  could  not  subdue  their  patience  ; 
and  the  fevers  and  malaria  of  Panama  could  not  deter  them  from 
their  El  Dorado.  It  is  idle  to  attribute  any  motive  of  selfishness 
to  our  Pioneers  greater  than  that  which  attends  the  ordinary  efforts 
of  every  individual  in  the  land.  We  dared  unknown  gangers,  ran 
risks  against  which  a  respectable  insurance  office  would  not  have  pro 
tected  us  for  less  than  ninety  per  cent.,  while  our  criticising  friends  re 
mained  at  home  and  profited  by  our  absence,  and  the  tens  of  millions 
of  gold  with  which  we  enriched  the  world.  We  found  here  a  wilder 
ness,  a  land  groaning  under  waste :  it  is  now  populous,  smiles  and 
looks  glad ;  its  valleys  of  alternate  verdure  and  yellow  harvest  re 
flect  back  the  glistening  of  eternal  snow.  We  were  the  fore 
runners — the  John  the  Baptists — of  civilization  and  prosperity  on  the 
shores  of  this  great  ocean. 

What  an  Empire  is  growing  up  from  that  advance  guard  of 
only  twenty  years  ago  ?  And  all  the  result  of  our  liberal  institu 
tions  and  voluntary  efforts.  Our  great  commercial  emporium  is  it 
self  a  magnificent  monument  to  the  enterprise  and  industry  of  our 
people,  a  parallel  for  which  history  fails  to  furnish — and  all  accom 
plished  in  twenty  years,  under  the  incentive  of  the  greatest  good 
to  the  greatest  number.  No  land  of  the  Constantines  is  this  ;  no 
Tyrant  commands  us  to  quit  Rome  and  build  a  city  on  the  Bos- 
phorus,  but  every  man  is  a  Lord  of  the  Soil  and  the  arbiter  of  his 
own  fortune.  Twenty  years,  while  they  dim  the  eye,  whiten  the 
head  and  add  many  wrinkles  to  the  brow  and  shadows  to  the  heart 
of  man,  are  but  a  span,  a  mere  speck  in  the  lifetime  of  a  State. 
Thousands  of  generations  shall  go  and  come,  and  go  again,  and 


( II ) 

Monte  Diablo  clothe  himself  in  azure  hue  as  he  does  now,  and  the 
surf  break  upon  our  ocean-worn  strand  as  of  yore  :  while  the 
blessing  of  the  free  institutions  now  founded  shall  still  endure. 
The  imagination  fails — we  are  lost  in  wonder  and  amazement — 
when  we  contemplate  the  destiny  of  our  State  ages  hence,  guaged 
by  our  past  progress.  Here,  around  the  bay  of  San  Francisco, 
breathing  the  purest  air,  should  grow  up  a  world-commanding  race. 
No  element  of  deterioration  can  ever  enter,  no  degeneration  induce 
a  decline  and  fall ;  a  climate  invigorating,  soil  and  mineral-produc 
ing  lands  rich  beyond  measure,  but  exacting  labor  sufficient  to  keep 
up  for  ever  the  energy  and  intellectual  superiority  of  Californians, 
which  will  but  be  in  accordance  with  the  natural  surroundings  of 
our  wonderful  State.  We  have  the  loftiest  mountains,  the  highest 
cliffs  and  waterfalls,  the  richest  gold  fields,  the  best  wheat  and  fruit, 
the  largest  and  tallest  trees,  the  widest  ocean,  the  prettiest  women, 
and  why  not  the  best  men  ? 

Of  the  hosts  which  came  prior  to  1850,  many  are  not  here. 
Where  are  they  ?  Their  bones  lie  mouldering  on  every  hill  and  in 
every  valley  from  Siskiyou  to  San  Diego  ;  one  by  one  they  have 
perished.  "  Sunk  in  the  dark  and  silent  lake."  'T  is  a  time  for 
memory  and  for  tears  ;  within  the  deep,  still  chambers  of  the  heart, 
a  specter  dim  whose  tones  are  like  the  wizard- voice  of  Time  heard 
from  the  tomb  of  ages,  points  its  cold  and  solemn  finger  to  the 
beautiful  and  holy  visions  that  have  passed  away  and  left  no  shadow 
of  their  loveliness  on  the  dead  waste  of  life.  That  Specter  lifts  the 
coffin-lid  of  Hope,  and  Joy,  and  Love,  and  bending  mournfully 
above  the  pale,  sweet  forms  that  slumber  there,  scatters  dead  flow 
ers  o'er  what  has  passed  to  nothingness.  Time  in  its  swift  course 
has  waved  its  scepter  o'er  the  beautiful  and  they  are  not.  Re 
morseless  Time,  fierce  spirit  of  the  glass  and  scythe!  What  power 
can  stay  him  in  his  silent  course  or  melt  his  iron  heart  to  pity  ? 
On,  still  on  he  presses  and  forever :  the  proud  bird — the  condor  of 
the  Andes — that  can  soar  through  Heaven's  unfathomable  depths, 


or  brave  the  fury  of  the  northern  hurricane,  and  bathe  his  plumage 
in  the  thunder's  home,  furls  his  broad  wings  at  night- fall,  and  sinks 
down  to  rest  upon  his  mountain  crag,  but  Time  knows  not  the 
weight  of  sleep  or  weariness,  and  night's  deep  darkness  has  no 
chain  to  bind  his   rushing  pinion,"  and  to  his  relentless  call,  thou 
sands  of  our  comrades  of  twenty  years  ago  have  bowed  and  yielded, 
as  we  in  our  time  shall  soon  bow  and  yield.     Some  by  the  hand  of 
the  savage,  fighting  fell,  some  overwhelmed  by  mountain  snows, 
and  driven  to  feed  upon  human  flesh,  which  nourished  not,  found 
their  sepulcher ;  others  in  lonely  mining  camps  or  by  the  wayside, 
neglected,  without  attendants  or  comforts,  longing  for  the  sweet 
care  of  mother,  sister  or  wife  ;  passed  away,  and  no  stone  or  mark 
indicates  their  last  resting-place.     Violence,  dissipation  and  despair 
have  claimed  their  victims ;  and  in  a  few  years  "  California  Pio 
neers"  will  be  as  scarce  as  the  survivors  of  the  Revolution,  and  all 
they  can  hope  for  is,  that  their  descendants  may  be  instrumental  in 
transmitting  unimpaired   to  an  endless  posterity  this  great  State 
and  its  free  institutions.     Then  to  our  fellow  Pioneers   who  have 
gone  to  the   grave,  we  bid  a  generous,  manly,  long  farewell ;  and  if 
by  an  inscrutable  Providence  it  be  so  ordained  that  your  spirits 
hover  around  us  now,  give  us  your  blessing,  and  inspire  us  with 
the  virtue,  patriotism  and  nerve  to  go  on  and  complete  the  great 
work  you  have  begun  ;  and  above  all  teach  us  charity  to  all  men, 
that  we  may  forgive  as  we  expect  to  be  forgiven ;  that  all  our  dif 
ferences,  sectional,  political,  or  otherwise  may  be  settled  upon  the 
altar  of  our  common  Country;  all  our  disputes  be  subject  to  the  fiat 
of  the  courts  and  the  ballot  box,  and  "  those  who  make  the  wars, 
be  the  only  men  to  fight." 

In  the  brief  time  allotted  to  such  an  address  as  this,  it  would  be 
out  of  place,  as  well  as  unnecessary,  for  me  to  attempt  anything 
like  a  detailed  history  of  the  discovery  and  settlement  of  California, 
that  task  having  been  so  admirably  performed  by  many  of  my  pred 
ecessors,  and  more  particularly  by  the  late  gifted  Edmund  Ran- 


(13) 

dolph — peace  to  his  ashes — that  a  mere  allusion  to  our  early  his 
tory  will  suffice.     The  Spaniards,  the  Mexicans,  and  the  English, 
were  pioneers  here  long    before   the  recent  discovery  of  gold. 
There  is  some  evidence,  also,  that  thousands  of  years  ago — far 
back  in  the  dim  past — the  Chinese  discovered  and,  visited  this 
country,  and  that  the  aborigines  whom  the  Europeans  found  here 
are  the  descendants  of  the  moon-eyed  races ;  and  it  is  within  the 
range  of  probabilities  that  my  successor,  who  will  perform  this 
pleasing  task  one  year  hence,  will  read  translations  from  well  au 
thenticated  oriental   history,  detailing  the  particulars  of  Chinese 
occupation  of  this  land  long  before  the  Christian  era.     But  be  that 
as  it  may,  the  first  white  man  who  saw  California  was  Cabrillo,  328 
years  ago  ;  he  sighted  and  named  Cape  Mendocino.     Sixteen  years 
later  Sir  Francis  Drake  landed  near  Point  Reyes,  and  reported  to 
his  Government :  "  That  there  is  no  part  of  earth  here  to  be  taken 
up,  wherein  there  is  not  a  reasonable  quantity  of  gold  and  silver;" 
notwithstanding  which,  gold  was  not  discovered  at  Sutter's  Mill  for 
290  years  latter.     In  1602,  Sebastian  Yizcayno  entered  San  Diego 
and  Monterey,  and  in  that  year  held  the  first  Roman  Catholic  serv 
ice,  as   Drake  had  twenty-five  years   before  held  the  service  of 
the  Church  of  England  near  Point  Reyes.     Neither  Monterey  nor 
any  of  the  country  north  thereof  was  again  visited  by  the  whites 
for  160  years.     Up  to  the  year  1769,  Upper  California  seems  to 
have  been  neglected  and  forgotten,  and  left  to  the  undisputed  pos 
session  of   worthless  Digger  Indians,  grizzly  bears,  and  herds  of 
elk  and  antelope.     In  that  year  arrived  Father  Junipero   Serra,  a 
Jesuit  Priest,  whom  we  look  back  to  as  the  head  and  front  of  Cali 
fornia  Pioneers.     From   his  eiforts  followed  a   system  of  Christian 
izing  Missions,  which  built  up  homes  for  the  faithful  and  native  con 
verts  from  San  Diego  to  Sonoma ;  protected  them  with  many  pre 
sidios,  and  established  San  Jose  and  Los  Angeles  for  their  supply. 
From  1769  to  1835,  the  Church  shared  largely  in  the  direction  and 
control  of  the  simple  pastoral  affairs  of  the  country  ;  notwithstand- 


(  '4  ) 

ing  that  in  1822  the  sovereignty  of  the  country  had  been  trans 
ferred  from  old  Spain  to  the  Republic  of  Mexico,  by  the  success 
ful  revolution  of  the  latter.  In  1846  California  was  taken  possession 
of  as  a  part  of  the  territory  of  the  United  States.  Soon  after, 
gold  was  discovered,  and  hundreds  of  thousands  of  people  came. 
A  Territorial  Government  was  established,  followed  by  our  admis 
sion  into  the  Federal  Union  on  the  9th  day  of  September,  1850 — 
twenty  years  ago  to  day.  We  are  out  of  our  teens,  but  still  in  our 
infancy. 

An  organization  such  as  the  "  California  Pioneers"  cannot  fail 
to  exercise  a  beneficial  influence  in  the  land,  composed  of  immi 
grants  from  every  State  in  the  Union,  self-perpetuating  in  their 
sons,  permitting  no  discussion  on  religious,  political  or  sectional 
questions,  other  than  in  a  spirit  of  mutual  concession : — it  is  the 
very  embodiment  of  Self  Government ;  having  for  members  all 
who  yet  survive  of  the  framers  of  our  State  Constitution,  they 
know  what  it  is  to  found  a  State  ;  they  have  seen  it  grow  into  power, 
and  be  a  blessing  to  its  citizens ; — they  help  swell  that  great  voice 
which  echoes  from  continent  to  continent,  "  the  people  are  mighty 
and  will  prevail."  The  handwriting  on  the  wall,  which  startled  the 
Assyrian  on  his  throne,  appears  again  in  characters  of  blaze  and 
blood  athwart  European  skies,  indicating  this  time  that  the  day  is 
past  when  hundreds  of  thousands  of  brave  men  must  perish,  and 
as  many  homes  be  made  desolate,  for  the  inconsiderable  object  of 
perpetuating  individual  dynasties.  To  our  honored  guests  of  the 
Army  and  Navy,  the  Executive  of  the  State,  Civil  and  Military 
Officers,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  we  greet  you  one  and  all ;  thank 
you  for  your  presence,  and  rejoice  with  you  that  peace  and  pros 
perity  reigns  throughout  our  land  :  and  especially  to  our  distin 
guished  fellow  Pioneer,  who  has  traversed  a  continent  to  meet  us ; 
the  head  of  our  armies,  General  W.  T.  SHERMAN,  we  say  All  Hail ! 

That  dream  of  the  Pioneer,  the  Great  Overland  Railway  from 
ocean  to  ocean,  has  now  been  completed  for  more  than  a  year,  and 


the  "  California  Pioneers"  have  been  whirled  in  palace  cars  from 
Pacific  to  Atlantic,  amid  the  cheers  and  acclaims  of  hosts  of  friends. 
What  shall  we  say,  what  can  we  say,  of  that  great  work,  in  compar 
ison  with  which  all  others  of  ancient  and  modern  times  seem  to 
dwarf  into  insignificance  ?  "  Those  Titanian  fabrics  of  old,  which 
point  in  Egypt's  plains  to  times  that  have  no  other  record,"  are  but 
the  aimless,  worthless  monuments  of  unrequited  toil ;  Rome's 
boasted  Appian  Way  was  but  a  cow-path  when  contrasted  with  this 
great  triumph  of  our  people  ;  and  more  wonderful  than  all,  is  the 
fact  that  a  people  could  plan  such  a  work  at  a  time  when  their 
country  was  contending  on  the  battle  field  for  National  existence,  re 
quiring  armies  greater  than  the  Persian  ever  led,  and  the  expendi 
ture  of  treasure  that  would  have  bankrupted  all  the  Empires  of  an 
cient  times. 

Our  onward  march  to  power — the  position  of  our  world-renowned 
Bay,  with  all  its  commercial  advantages,  with  its  growing  towns, 
and  its  great  emporium,  San  Francisco,  sitting  secure  in  her  regal 
and  undisputed  splendor  at  the  gateway  of  a  world's  traffic — seem 
to  have  confused  and  dumfounded  not  only  the  people,  but  politi 
cians  and  statesmen,  who  stand  in  wonder  at  the  promised  revolu 
tionizing  of  the  commerce  of  the  Earth  that  is  sure  to  follow  a  wise 
and  progressive  policy.  With  all  due  deference  to  the  general 
intelligence  of  our  Eastern  countrymen,  and  of  our  law-makers  in 
the  Halls  of  Congress,  we  may  be  permitted  to  say  that  they  fail 
to  comprehend  the  greatness  of  the  land  in  which  they  live.  Ac 
customed  to  bound  their  Country  on  the  west  by  the  Alleghanys,  or 
at  best  by  the  Mississippi  Valley,  they  are  utterly  bewildered  at 
the  splash  of  our  ponderous  Oriental  steamers  nearing  our  coast, 
and  the  thunder  of  our  railroad  trains  as  they  dash  eastward  o'er 
mountain  and  plain,  laden  with  the  wealth  of  the  Indies,  far  in 
advance  of  all  competing  routes,  literally  forcing  them  to  look  to 
the  West  for  all  that  heretofore  came  to  them  from  the  East.  They 
are  fairly  startled  with  the  conviction  that  the  great  highway  of 


16 


Nations,  from  Canton  to  London,  is  across  the  Pacific  ocean  and 
our  own  continent,  and  that  the  Golden  Gate  is  the  toll-gate  where 
the  Nations  must  stop,  and  walk  up  to  the  Captain's  Office  and  set 
tle.  With  the  experience  of  ages  before  him,  upon  the  rise  and 
fall  of  Empires,  it  is  criminal  for  the  Statesman  as  well  as  the  Gen 
eral  to  make  a  mistake  ;  he  should  use  to  the  greatest  advantage 
the  means  and  opportunities  which  God  in  his  infinite  wisdom  has 
placed  at  his  control.  If  the  trade  and  commerce  of  400,000,000 
of  people  directly  in  front  of  us  can  be  had  for  the  asking,  he  is 
an  enemy  to  his  country  who  would  decline  it,  or  throw  any  obsta 
cle  in  the  way  of  securing  it.  Never  let  it  be  said  that  free  and 
enlightened  America  has  driven  from  her  shores  that  commerce 
which  has  enriched  every  nation  that  has  ever  controlled  or  even 
shared  it.  Shall  we  adopt  that  exclusiveness  of  which  we  have 
complained  for  ages,  and  which  we  have  just  been  the  means  of 
breaking  down  ?  A  single  article  manufactured  by  our  own  la 
bor,  by  our  own  mechanics  and  with  our  own  machinery,  from  our 
own  wood,  wool,  cotton,  metals,  cereals  and  other  products,  if  gen 
erally  introduced  to  the  favor  of  the  numerous  Mongolian  family, 
would  be  of  infinitely  more  benefit  to  our  country  than  all  the  gold 
mines  ever  discovered.  Every  man  and  woman  throughout  our 
State  could  then  find  employment  at  wages  commensurate  with 
their  wants,  and  the  cry  of  "  dull  times"  be  heard  no  more  in  the 
land.  We  should  tower  high  and  far  above  the  local  interests  of 
to-day,  disregard  the  incendiary  appeals  of  the  demagogue  made 
for  personal  and  partisan  purposes,  and  grasp  the  great  future  ;  se 
cure  for  ourselves  and  our  posterity  —  in  addition  to  our  other  ele 
ments  of  prosperity  —  a  maritime  supremacy,  which  by  reason  of 
our  commanding  position  and  boundless  resources,  shall  endure  un 
til  the  great  pendulum  of  Time,  ceasing  to  vibrate,  shall  settle  to 
its  center. 

Without  intending  to  be  invidious,  or  in  the  least  to  disparage 
others,  here  in  the  shadow  of  that  vigorous,  prosperous  young  city 


(  17  ) 

which  is  to  convoy  his  name  down  to  posterity,  I  cannot  permit  the 
occasion  to  pass,  without  assuring  Don  Mariano  Guadelupe  Vallejo, 
that  the  "  Pioneers  "  honor  and  respect  him ;  honor  him  as  a  true 
and  upright  adopted  citizen  of  the  United  States — respect  him,  in 
that  he  was  brave  and  faithful  to  his  former  Government.  In  him 
we  recognize  a  noble  type  of  the  generous,  hospitable  Native  Cali- 
fornian,  whose  door  before  the  days  of  hotels  and  country  inns  was 
ever  open,  and  gave  us  food  and  shelter  without  money  and  without 
price  ;  a  type  of  that  race  among  us  that  is  fast  passing  away. 
No !  not  passing  away,  but  mingling  its  blood  with  the  Anglo 
Saxon  hordes,  contributing  an  element  of  Latin  fire  and  dash  to 
Scandinavian  descendants,  which  is,  and  is  to  be,  the  perfection  of 
the  human  family.  Thanks  to  the  blending  influence  of  time, 
association  and  common  interest,  the  Native  Californian  can  no  lon 
ger  utter  the  melancholy  soliloquy  of  him  who  was  summoned  to 
answer  in  one  of  our  courts :  "  Yb  soy  un  extrartjero  en  el  pais  de 
me  natividad,  y  no  intiendo  la  lengua  que  ablan"  ("  I  am  a 
stranger  in  my  native  land,  and  the  language  they  speak  I  do  not 
understand.")  Ere  I  conclude,  permit  me  to  allude  to  another 
class  of  "  Pioneers":  I  mean  those  of  our  great  and  good  men  who 
thought  out  this  country  long  before  many  of  us  were  born.  Jef 
ferson,  Madison,  Monroe,  Lewis  and  Clark,  Breese,  Semple,  Doug 
las  and  Benton,  pioneered  this  Pacific  Coast  with  their  brains,  dur 
ing  the  first  forty-five  years  of  the  present  century,  in  their  public 
messages,  speeches  and  reports,  and  in  their  private  efforts  they 
pictured  in  earnest  and  glowing  words  the  advantages  of  this 
Coast  to  the  National  Union ;  they  drew  aside  the  curtain  of  the 
future  and  saw  all  that  we  are  now  realizing,  and  are  to  realize 
hereafter,  and  brought  the  weight  of  their  great  power  and  influ 
ence  to  secure  its  blessings  to  their  country.  But  time  will  not  per 
mit  us  on  this  occasion  to  pass  any  extended  eulogy  upon  them  and 
others  of  the  great  army  of  Pioneers ;  they  have  built  their  own 
monument,  laying  its  foundation  deep  in  the  hearts  of  the  Ameri- 


18 


can  people,  and  by  tfceir  own  great  acts,  they  "  have  piled  stone 
upon  stone  until  the  shaft  pierces  'mid-heaven,  and  vaulting  to  its 
summit  "  they  stand  there  the  acknowledged  champions  of  free 
government  throughout  Christendom,  and  e'en  now  methinks  we 
can  look  down  the  dim  avenue  of  Coming  Ages,  and  hear  posterity 
sounding  in  their  ears  the  plaudits  of  generations  yet  unborn. 


Delivered  before  the  Society  of  California  Pioneers.  Sep 
tember  9th,  1870. 


The  ground  is  new  on  which  we  tread  to-day — 
New  to  the  Arts  and  Freedom's  friendly  sway — 
New  to  the  Commerce  that  has  found  its  shore, 
The  Saxon  race,  their  language  and  their  lore — 
New  to  the  throngs  Adventure  here  beguiled, 
Whose  labors  smoothed  the  way  and  cleared  the  wild 
For  countless  followers,  adding,  as  they  came, 
Life's  social  charms  to  realms  of  golden  fame — 
New  to  the  world,  admiring,  from  afar, 
As  when  in  Heaven  we  greet  some  late-found  star, 
And  grow  familiar  with  the  shining  sight, 
Full  of  pleased  wonder  and  sublime  delight, 
Where  flaming  suns  escort  their  planet  trains, 
In  its  bright  path  o'er  the  celestial  plains. 

When,  since  the  pen  on  History's  page  began 
To  trace  the  life  of  States,  the  deeds  of  man — 
To  tell  the  birth  of  nations,  and  recall 
Their  glorious  rise  or  their  disastrous  fall, 
Was  there  a  spot,  in  earth's  most  genial  zone, 
On  which  the  sun's  propitious  beams  had  shone, 
So  long  a  waste  of  mountain,  plain  and  sod, 
By  the  dull  brute  and  squalid  savage  trod, 
With  such  fair  vantage  for  all  aims  sublime, 
As  this  bright  land — this  hope-inspiring  clime  ? 

And  what  was  meant,  and  why  the  long  delay 
To  give  its  soil  to  an  enlightened  sway  ? 
Why,  through  the  periods  of  the  darkling  past, 
Was  this  clime-trophy  left  to  be  man's  last  ? 


(    20    ) 

What  kept  its  treasures  and  enticing  skies 

From  the  grand  role  of  human  enterprise  ? 

Did  Heaven  withhold  the  knowledge  of  the  power 

That  slept  unsought,  for  more  auspicious  hour  ? 

Look  at  the  rule  of  a  spasmodic  race, 

Whose  futile  prowess  Science  can  trace. 

In  vain  the  Indian  the  quicksilver  scanned — 

In  vain  the  Trapper  washed  the  golden  sand. 

The  Priest,  devoted  to  his  cloistered  task, 

Would  not  to  human  toil  the  mines  unmask. 

But  not  in  vain  did  Marshall's  eyes  behold, 

At  Sutler's  Mill,  the  shining  specks  of  gold. 

He  brought  them  forth,  that  all  might  quickly  know 

What  treasures  slept  those  silent  hills  below. 

The  tale  was  told  from  mountain  to  the  sea, 

And,  bird-like,  East,  went  winged  among  the  free. 

The  world  was  stirred,  and  felt  the  mighty  spell 

Which,  Heaven-directed,  works  out  all  things  well. 

The  rocks  relate,  that  geologic  times 

Have  given  the  earth  its  features  and  its  climes — 

That  complex  powers,  in  Nature's  giant  plan, 

Had  worked  out  wonders  ere  the  birth  of  man — 

From  crude  to  clear,  from  chaos  to  the  Soul 

That  moves  supremely  through  the  boundless  whole. 

So  with  events,  that,  unsuspected,  come 

From  out  the  vortex  of  Time's  teeming  womb. 

They  show  the  world's  advances — that  the  rise 

Of  races  with  the  soul's  Meal  lies — 

And  ever  since  rude  man's  imperial  part, 

While  scanning  Nature  for  proficient  Art, 

Was  seen  to  be,  to  choose  his  place  of  toil 

Where'er  he  loved  the  climate  and  the  soil, 

His  westward  march,  in  long  diffusive  line, 

Has  seemed  intoned  with  Heaven's  serene  design — 

Whether  as  nomads  o'er  the  Persian  plains, 

To  where  Phoenicia's  memory  still  remains — 

Or  with  the  Goths,  who  left  their  Northern  home, 

And  ravaged  Spain  and  sacked  divided  Rome — 

Or  as  the  sons  of  Israel,  when  the  throng 

Through  drear  and  desert  wastes  were  led  along 

From  gloomy  Egypt,  called  by  voice  divine, 

To  Canaan's  promised  land  in  Palestine ; 

Or,  strangest  still  of  all  of  Heaven's  decrees, 

That  doomed  the  Mayflower  to  uncertain  seas, 

Filled  with  the  Pilgrims,  fired  by  faith  sublime, 

Fleeing  from  wrong  to  an  untraversed  clime. 

But  grand  as  strange  was  the  resulting  good 


(    21    ) 

Born  of  their  suffering,  prayer  and  solitude. 

They  found  a  wilderness  of  rock  and  sand, 

And,  while  they  looked,  a  commonwealth  was  planned— 

They  met  a  savage,  treacherous  as  the  seas, 

But,  like  the  waves,  their  rage  died  by  degrees — 

They  saw  a  continent,  in  which  the  seed 

Of  Thought  they  planted  bears  no  poisonous  weed ; 

And  from  soul-blossoms  that  around  them  grew, 

They  shared  the  fruits  of  Truth  and  Freedom  too. 

Limbs  knit  to  work,  minds  trained  in  Virtue's  school, 

Made  the  best  sovereigns  for  their  country's  rule. 

They  faced  all  foes  that  menaced  Home  and  Land — 

O'ercame  all  mischief  evil  councils  planned, 

And  saw  their  numbers  grow,  their  power  increase, 

And  wrote  their  annals  in  the  love  of  peace ; 

Till,  far  away,  where  Freedom  was  a  word 

Ne'er  without  Union  in  its  utterance  heard — 

As  temples  reared  their  domes  and  wigwams  fled, 

New  Border  States  the  sweep  of  Empire  spread ; 

And  in  the  West,  bathed  by  the  setting  sun, 

Fair  California  shone  with  Oregon — 

The  wastes  confessing  man's  progressive  sway, 

From  Plymouth  Rock  to  San  Francisco's  Bay. 

Here  was  the  flag  the  freeman  loves  unfurled 
To  front  Cathay — still  floating  round  the  world — 
Here,  when  Columbia's  mountain  march  was  stayed, 
And  the  land  shrank  its  bounds,  the  sea  obeyed, 
And  Science  tasked  the  aid  of  steam  and  sail, 
Where'er  the  keel  of  commerce  could  prevail. 

And  this  fair  heritage,  by  Nature  planned, 
When  first  she  traced  the  picturesque  and  grand, 
And  culled  the  tints  from  Beauty's  glowing  store, 
To  give  her  scenes  the  enchantments  that  allure, 
With  all  its  charms  of  sunny  vales  and  streams, 
And  treasures  hid,  beyond  Aladdin's  dreams — 
This  realm  of  peace,  this  land  of  fruits  and  flowers, 
And  pleasures  sent  to  cheer  life's  fleeting  hours, 
Is  theirs  who  struggled  o'er  the  stormy  wave, 
With  souls  all  hopeful  and  with  hearts  all  brave. 
And  wlien,  at  last,  the  haven  sought  was  found 
Within  the  Bay,  by  mountains  circled  round, 
That  echoed  back  the  ship's  saluting  gun, 
O'er  sites  for  homes  they  loved  to  gaze  upon — 
Where  from  green  hills  sloped  down  the  smiling  plains, 
Waiting  for  harvests  of  nutritious  grains, 
While  inland  seas  received  each  mountain  flood, 


(    22    ) 

And  Fancy  saw  an  Empire  in  the  bud, — 

The  voyager  felt,  with  transport  in  each  eye, 

Here  was  the  field  man's  noblest  aims  to  try — 

Here  would  the  heart  accept  the  guages  given 

To  do  Life's  work,  and  leave  the  rest  to  Heaven.  % 

And  those  who  traversed  deserts,  worn  and  tired, 
By  California's  name  alone  inspired — 
Who  dared  the  dangers  of  wild  beasts  of  prey, 
And  savage  hordes  that  hemmed  each  wanderer's  way 
O'er  plains  and  mountains,  where,  to  suffering's  cry, 
Came  back  no  answer,  none  brought  succor  nigh — 
Who,  in  their  saddened  marches,  turned  not  back, 
Though  graves  bestrewed  the  wastes  along  their  track — 
Though  wreck  and  ruin  marked  the  dreary  way, 
While  acrid  waters  brought  them  new  dismay — 
With  cattle  wasting — teams  o'ercome  and  mired — 
And  ashen  plains  grown  white  as  beasts  expired — 
Where  gorged  the  vulture  his  unnatural  maw, 
And  gaunt  wolf,  hungry,  snapped  his  rasping  jaw — 
There,  onward  as  the  tide  of  travel  rolled, 
Came  Donner's  fate— the  saddest  ever  told — 
There  raged  the  conflict  between  hope  and  gloom, 
A  land  of  beautv  or  a  desert  tomb. 


But  when  the  plains  were  crossed — the  mountains  passed- 
To  where  the  snowed  heights  sent  no  freezing  blast — 
How  soft  the  gales  that  fan  their  western  sides, 
Down  which  the  wanderer  with  his  wagon  strides — 
How  mild  the  sunlight  of  the  cloudless  sky — 
How  rich  the  sward  his  team  stands  grazing  by — 
How  graceful  look  the  pines — the  oaks  how  green — 
With  spreading  parks  and  flowery  lawns  between — 
How  blythe  the  wild  birds  from  the  branches  sing — 
How  fearless  in  their  pride  the  gray  deers  spring — 
What  grateful  odors  the  pleased  senses  greet — 
What  cooling  springs  gush  sparkling  at  his  feet — 
What  buoyant  influence  fills  the  exhilarant  air — 
What  new  life-strength  the  upland  breezes  bear. 
Where  a  brown  carpet  all  the  land  o'erlies, 
What  vales  of  beauty  meet  his  wondering  eyes — 
What  groves  of  mammoth  redwood  reach  on  high, 
Their  branching  fingers  twining  in  the  sky — 
With  rivers  sweeping  on  their  silvery  way, 
And  lakes  embosomed  where  the  tules  play — 
And  from  the  mountains,  where  his  courage  fell, 
What  rows  of  rounded  foothills  roll  and  swell, 


(  2-3  ) 


To  where  the  billows  break  and  islands  rest 
Upon  the  bright  Pacific's  boundless  breast. 

The  Pioneer  has  reached  the  Golden  Land, 

His  country's  western  boundary  and  its  strand. 

He  meets  the  sons  of  other  lands  and  skies, 

And  onward  rolls  the  car  of  Enterprise. 

He  rears  his  tent — dispels  his  thoughts  of  gloom — 

Digs  in  the  bar,  and  plans  the  mountain  flume. 

He  hews  the  log  to  fitting  depth  to  hold 

The  riffling  dirt,  and  cradle  out  the  gold. 

Month  follows  month,  and,  as  the  years  unroll, 

He  sees  what  Time  writes  on  Life's  lettered  scroll  ; 

He  sees  the  village  grace  the  lovely  vale, 

Where  late  the  wolf  awoke  his  midnight  wail — 

He  sees  the  city  rear  its  prospering  head, 

Where  merchant-feet  were  late  unknown  to  tread — 

He  sees  the  church  with  its  invoking  spire, 

Where  rash  men  scoffed  the  soul's  religious  fire — 

He  sees  the  school-house  reared  the  youth  to  train, 

Whence  ne'er  went  graduate  with  a  vacant  brain — 

He  sees  the  Law  assert  its  rightful  sway 

Where  Crime  had  stalked  and  courted  bloody  fray. 

He  sees,  on  heights  o'er  which  the  venturous  climb, 

The  moon-eyed  sons  of  China's  swarming  clime, 

With  basket-hat  and  pole,  along  the  road 

Trudge  to  the  mines  with  his  Samsonian  load — 

A  patient  plodder  with  the  toiling  van, 

In  this  new  mingling  of  unresting  man. 

He  sees  the  camp,  near  which  his  pile  was  found, 

A  wreck  of  cabins — a  deserted  ground — 

The  hillocks  gone  where  trees  and  shurbbery  grew, 

With  boulders,  sand  drift  and  alone  in  view — 

The  ravaged  earth  divested  of  its  charms, 

Where  erst  the  Placers  rallied  eager  swarms. 

But,  in  their  stead,  as  Older  camps  decline, 

He  sees  the  quartz  that  tells  th'  exhaustless  mine — 

And  other  sounds  along  the  mountains  rise 

Than  long-toms  rocking  where  the  torrent  flies  ; 

And  the  white  cottage,  with  home's  well-housed  fold, 

Bring  sweet  content  with  humbler  piles  of  gold. 

He  sees  the  pick  and  spade,  in  cumbrous  pack, 

No  longer  bristling  at  the  miner's  back. 

Down  the  riven  gulch,  or  by  the  river's  side, 

No  white  tents  gleam — no  busy  toilers  glide- — 

The  waters  roar  in  turbid  eddies  still — 

The  grizzly  growls  on  the  adjacent  hill ; 

But  checkered  camp-life  and  its  rugged  throng 


1    24    ) 

Are  passing  to  romantic  tale  and  song. 

He  sees  the  bold  Prospector,  far  and  wide, 

Lift  up  the  veils  that  Nature's  treasures  hide, 

O'erleap  the  barriers  that  obstruct  the  way, 

And  hold  the  fields  reclaimed  from  savage  sway. 

He  sees  the  vineyard  or  the  well-tilled  farm, 

Where  reigned  but  dearth  or  weeds,  without  a  charm. 

He  sees  the  Trades,  the  Arts  and  Knowledge  spread, 

Where  Science  ne'er  before  had  reared  its  head — 

The  College,  wisely  planned,  with  generous  dower, 

Where  Berkeley's  muse  names  Learning's  latest  flower. 

He  sees  the  Lyceum  and  the  Lecture  call 

Scholar  and  student  to  the  desk  and  hall. 

He  sees  the  rail-car  daily  speed  its  load, 

Where  he  with  team  lagged  months  upon  the  road  ; 

And  where  the  pony  galloped  with  the  mail, 

He  hears  the  swift-winged  lightning  tell  its  tale ; 

And  ships  in  squadrons  sailing  to  and  fro, 

Where  only  shallops  skimmed  some  years  ago. 

He  sees  a  people,  strangers  when  they  came, 

Ruled  in  sweet  concord  by  Love's  social  flame, 

And  a  great  State,  with  all  the  forms  of  power, 

Born  of  good  impulse  in  a  thrilling  hour — 

First  child  of  Freedom  by  Pacific's  waters, 

And  fairest  yet  of  all  Columbia's  daughters. 

And  looking  East,  while  conning  o'er  his  task, 

He  sees  Rebellion's  hideous  form  unmask, 

And  traitors  plotting,  in  an  evil  time, 

To  turn  the  tide  of  Progress  into  Crime. 

He  sees  his  country's  danger — hears  the  roar 

Of  battle  loud  along  the  Atlantic's  shore  ; 

But  in  the  smoke,  and  o'er  the  fiery  storm, 

He  sees  a  Grant,  and  Sherman's  gallant  form, 

Leading  the  legions  of  the  loyal  brave 

From  mountain  fastness  to  the  Gulfs  blue  wave — 

Till  Treason  crushed  and  Freedom's  falchion  sheathed, 

By  Victory's  hands  the  warriors'  brows  are  wreathed, 

Her  banners  proffered  to  the  arms  of  Peace, 

Without  star-darkening — without  stripe  decrease — 

Pledged  to  the  right,  in  Union's  Federal  fold, 

That  man  may  keep  what  Heaven  would  not  withhold. 

For  twenty  years  these  scenes  have  met  his  gaze, 
With  new  emotions  at  each  changing  phase — 
For  twenty  years  these  marvels  have  been  wrought, 
Outstripping  fable — opening  worlds  of  thought. 
Nay,  years  that  count,  by  yonder  tell-tale  sun, 
In  man's  brief  life,  not  less  than  twenty-one — 


(    25    ) 

Years  which  have  taught,  that,  swerve  howe'er  he  will, 

Man's  special  mission  waits  him  to  fulfill. 

His  choice  in  youth  might  be  some  useful  Art, 

In  village  scenes  to  play  a  noiseless  part ; 

But  Heaven's  intent,  disguised  in  Fortune's  call, 

Has  lead  his  feet  to  scale  some  mountain  wall — 

But,  where  he  dreamed  the  gold  in  heaps  to  find, 

Meeting  but  scanty  ounces,  unresigned, 

He,  for  subsistence,  plies  his  early  trade, 

And  finds  of  such  the  Pioneers  are  made. 

Though  Wealth's  allurements  from  the  mines  recede, 

Life's  social  uses  keep  his  days  from  need  ; 

And  years  speed  on,  by  Avarice  uncontrolled, 

Beneath  a  climate  that  has  charms  untold — 

Where  Nature  scatters  Plenty's  copions  stores, 

And  rosy  Health  dwells  by  congenial  shores — 

Years  that  have  given  the  world  its  Golden  Age, 

And  proffered  means  man's  sufferings  to  assuage, 

If  for  so  grand  an  almoner  could  be, 

Dispensers  meet  for  poor  humanity — 

Years  that  have  seen  achievements  that  expand 

The  soul  to  heights  that  higher  realms  command ; 

And  that  have  built,  'midst  smiles  and  frowns  of  Time, 

The  path  of  nations  to  the  Orient  clime  ; 

And  made  this  varied  mountain  land  a  part 

Of  a  great  Empire's  palpitating  heart ; 

And  gained,  with  scope  for  millions  of  the  free, 

Another  shore  to  search  another  sea  ; 

And  brought,  with  changes  under  mountains  mined, 

New  hopes,  new  homes,  new  blessings  for  mankind. 


